


Lost in the Wood

by mneiai



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst to Fluff, Child Abuse, Gaslighting, M/M, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 07:33:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10917240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mneiai/pseuds/mneiai
Summary: Joanna ended up happy.





	Lost in the Wood

**Author's Note:**

> Fairly graphic verbal abuse with some physical abuse in the beginning (and references to earlier spousal abuse). 
> 
> This is a pretty old one, in answer to the first part of the following Kink Meme Prompt. (I really don't have anything against Jocelyn, but there was a trope to follow and all.)
> 
> http://community.livejournal.com/st_xi_kink/4104.html?thread=8461832#t8461832
> 
> "Bones goes down to pick up Joana Finds out his ex has been abusing his daughter. Ex convinces him it's his fault. He telepathically goes "Help, Spock!" Spock helps. Joana is now all Bones'.  
> Bonus points for shopping, Joana/Bones being telepathic, mind bonding, Spock being nasty to Bones's ex, Joana ending up living with Spock's parents...."
> 
> Another old fic I'm transferring here for posterity. Someday I might rewrite the beginning to make it less awful, but I like the later bits lol

Leonard knew anger, he got angry all the time. He got angry at Jim for his suicidal stunts, he got angry at Spock for being too damn logical, he got angry at his staff for not being inhumanly fast enough to suit his needs. This, though, this wasn't anger. This was rage. It was hot and cold, blinding in its intensity, and causing his entire body to shake and his fists to clench before he even knew it was happening.

"What the fuck are you doing?" 

He'd gotten there a little early, but while it was unusual it wasn't anything he could be blamed for. Jocelyn had left the front door unlocked, which wasn't unusual, the neighborhood was a good one (half of his salary as CMO of the flagship damn well supported that). So he'd let himself in, because technically it was his house, too, and in fifteen minutes his daughter would officially be in his custody for an entire week.

Plans had been made, revised, and then perfected over the last month, Joanna and him trading crazier and crazier ideas until it involved him needing to genetically engineer unicorns and re-virginize Jim. Then they'd settled on a week in Britain.

He didn't think he'd ever been so excited to spend time in a land of moldy castles and constant rain.

When he walked into the entryway, he knew something was off. His skin was crawling and his pulse was speeding up. Leonard knew he was starting to panic, the feeling of dread making him stutter out prayers in his mind that he wouldn't find the aftermath of some horrific burglary/homicide waiting for him in the rooms beyond.

What he did find was almost as bad. Joanna, on the floor crying, one of her arms at a horrible angle as it was gripped in Jocelyn's hand. Joanna had a bruise on her cheek, a cut from one of Jocelyn's obnoxious rings dripping blood onto the hard wood floors. Her sobs were powerful things, but her body was slumped, as if she were accepting it, as if she were used to it.

"Did you honestly think you could get away with it? It's all your fault David left, he couldn't deal with you throwing yourself at him. You should be lucky he's a better person than you are." Her voice had been full a bile, hissing out blame at Joanna in a tone that Leonard recognized with growing dread.

Jocelyn had whipped around when he made his presence known, dropping Joanna's arm and stalking towards Leonard. "Don't look so shocked, Len, you think I'd be able to get through a day with your little bitch without needing to discipline her? The brat can't keep quiet for a second, can't do anything she's told, can't even do her fucking homework right. Do you know how much money I'm dropping on therapy? She's got issues, of course she has to, daddy ran away to discover new types of plagues and fuck aliens." 

Leonard didn't slap her because he'd never slapped her, had never hit her even when he had a face full of her knuckles or a groin battered by her knee. He'd never wanted to hit her so badly before, though. His little girl was broken and she was acting like it wasn't her fault, like it was 

He tried to think of something to interject, but she was already continuing, coming right up to his face and seething at him.

"And you did just leave her, didn't you? Left her with me and left me without a punching bag. You're so fucking selfish."

No, no, no, he thought, trying to clamp down on rising panic. But he did leave his little girl alone with her, knowing exactly what sort of person Jocelyn was. But Jocelyn had never hurt Joanna before, had wanted her badly enough to use every dirty little trick in the book to make Leonard look like an unfit parent, like a hazard to be around. He should have fought harder, found a way to prove what sort of woman Jocelyn really was. He'd only but trying to give Joanna what little peace he could, to not drag things out.

He should have fought harder. He'd run away and this is what he left his little girl to. All he ever gave her with stupid fantasies, empty stories over subspace communications, while she must have been putting on a brave face so she wouldn't embarrass herself in front of her dad.

Joanna was watching them, now, looking at him with ancient, pleading eyes. How had he missed this? How was he that dense, that selfish, that he couldn't realize his little girl was hurting? He'd known he was a bad father, but he'd never known he was a horrible one before.

Jocelyn was still speaking, was still spreading hatred and guilt deep within Leonard, the words snaring on his thoughts, not allowing him any peace. He'd been too busy with Jim, the crew, to notice anything. Then he'd been too busy with Spock, with their burgeoning relationship that blindsided them both and seemed somehow perfect.

Spock. He desperately wished Spock was there, because he could handle this, he could see the logic in the situation and make Leonard know where, exactly, he'd gone wrong. Spock, Spock, please, he thought, desperately, imagining him there, at his side. He needed that, even if Spock would know how awful Leonard was, would never be able to look him in the eyes again, Spock would help Joanna, and that's what mattered.

Joanna was crying, and Jocelyn was screaming, and Leonard was standing there, because moving was too much, thinking was almost too much. The room was blurring around the edges, just like the sounds had almost all faded. He almost missed a sudden flash of light and the familiar noise of a transporter beam.

"Leonard." Spock was there, though maybe Leonard was going crazy and seeing things he wanted to see. If that was the case, though, he wouldn't be seeing the room, would be seeing Joanna standing and happy, not a mark on her. Or Jocelyn's dead body smeared across the walls.

Hands gripped him tight, Spock's hands. They alighted on his cheeks and Spock let out a hiss, eyes narrowing, then finally taking in the scene around them. 

"At this moment it would behoove you to cease all forms of communication," Spock told Jocelyn, who'd gone quiet when he first appeared and then started screaming again, wanting the alien out of her house. When she didn't quiet down, Spock focused a dark glare on her. "Shut. Up."

She did. Then she fled, going into a side room and slamming the door shut. The sound of the lock echoed for a moment.

"Leonard," Spock began again, "you must calm yourself. Your blood pressure is reaching dangerous levels and your thoughts are becoming too erratic for you to sustain."

He shook his head, pushing Spock away, even though he knew this might be the last time they touched, knew Spock would realize what a horrible person he was. "No, Joanna, see if, see if she's really hurt. Help her."

Spock looked over at her, as if he hadn't realized they weren't alone, then back to Leonard. "Very well." The last thing he knew was a hand clamping down near his neck.

***

Joanna McCoy knew this Vulcan from pictures and the occasional greeting. Sometimes he was in her dad's room when she called, once he even answered. He was always polite and, even though Vulcans weren't supposed to have emotions, she could see a soft curiosity in his eyes when he regarded her. And she wasn't blind to the way he would lean into her dad for a few seconds before walking out of view, either.

When dad showed up, she almost burst with happiness. Mom had been angrier than usual, had fucked something up at work and still been smarting over her last boyfriend leaving her for some younger, nicer woman.

But mom had always hurt dad and dad had always just let her, because that's the way dad could be. He'd never even yelled at Joanna when she called him nasty names or that one time, the time she still wished she could take back, when she said she didn't love him. 

She cried harder, because dad looked so hurt, because mom was saying awful, untrue things and dad believed them. Joanna hoped it wasn't because of the things she'd said, that she wasn't just like mom, but she wasn't sure that was true. They both hurt dad all the time just because they could.

And then the Vulcan, Spock, had shown up. Spock had transported in like it was nothing to be able to just beam into some suburban house on Earth. He'd gone straight to dad, which was perfect, and then he'd told off mom. He didn't seem very Vulcan-y then, but Uncle Jim had said he could get scary when he was angry.

Now he was setting dad down gently on the couch--Joanna noticed he was unconscious and let out a little gasp, hoping he was okay--and coming towards her. "Joanna, do you require medical assistance?"

She shook her head, but that hurt, so she bit her lip and ended up nodding. Yeah, she needed a doctor, she needed dad to wake up and look at the bruises on her back and her face, and wave all his devices over her and make her better.

"I will be alerting the authorities."

Joanna winced. "Oh, God, don't. Mom will flip out."

He cocked his head to the side, as if considering her words. "I believe your mother has already taken the opportunity to do so. I shall not allow her to do so again."

***

Spock had been responding to the voice in his head before he had even known who it was. Leonard and he were not bonded, may never be so with Leonard's every present fear of commitment, but somehow he was inside Spock's head. The emotions behind the telepathic call were desperate, broken. 

It did not take much to convince the technician on duty at the transporters to beam him down. He would file a report on the matter as soon as he returned to the ship, knowing that Jim would certainly approve such an action for this emergency.

When the call stopped, Spock had feared the worse. Leonard often complained of the hazards of space, it would be far too ironic for him to die on Earth after everything they had already suffered. And it would be...tragic, Spock admitted to himself, for them to lose what little time Leonard's short human life span allotted them.

Coming into the scene midway through had jarred Spock, but he hadn't doubted his instinctual reactions. Leonard was what mattered, so he went first to him, sending away his screeching wife with a look and words instead of the violence he wished to visit upon her. Leonard's daughter had been another matter, as Spock was unsure how to proceed with comforting a human child, let alone one he had never met in person. He'd done the only thing he could do, follow procedures, call in the local authorities so that they could take away the woman and see to the girl's medical care. She was a part of Leonard, so her wellbeing had to be considered in everything Spock did.

The ex-wife was arrested. She had calmed down and attempted to talk the arresting officers out of such an act. There was a slight chance she would have been successful, because of the oddness of the situation, but Spock was a Starfleet Commander and Joanna, with one hand gripped onto his uniform shirt and the other in her unconscious father's hand, had demonstrated the McCoy bravery and stated that she was, indeed, physically abused.

A representative of child services had looked at the two men and girl, at the uniforms both Spock and Leonard were wearing, and then handed over a few forms. Joanna McCoy was temporarily remanded into the custody of her father until after the trial, at which point custody would be allotted based on the outcome. Spock wondered what expression Leonard would give when hearing the news.

***

Leonard woke up in his own bed, dizziness overtaking him at the slightest shift, something he acknowledged as the aftereffect of a panic attack. A familiar ache in his neck let him know someone had hyposprayed him more than once, most likely with nutrients and a few cocktails to calm him down. He almost felt like himself, but not quite.

"Daddy?"

He would have fallen out of the bed if he hadn't been so woozy. Opening his eyes, finally, he saw his little girl sitting on the edge, watching him.

"Jo? What...what's going on?"

Joanna should have been with her mother after what happened, he should be worried about getting her away from Jocelyn, not looking at her sitting on the Enterprise like she belonged there. A movement across the room revealed Spock, walking towards them with cups of tea in his hands. Leonard would choke it down, he knew, because Spock looked the Vulcan equivalent of upset and that just wasn't right.

"You arrived 15.36 minutes early to your ex-wife's house, at which point you allowed yourself into the unsecured door and witnessed a moment of the systematic abuse she has been covertly visiting upon your daughter. After confronting her, you began to display the symptoms of a panic attack as well as a the awakening of a latent psionic ability." Up until that point, Spock's recitation of events had been clinical, but now he leaned into Leonard, eyes softening with wonder. "You telepathically called out to me. I could do nothing but answer."

Leonard frowned. He had tested high on the psi-scale, but no amount of instruction had ever managed to get it out of him. He'd been convinced something was wrong with the test. Thinking it over, he blushed--he'd never been so intimate with someone's mind as he was with Spock's, had certainly never tried to contact Jocelyn. Maybe that had been the real problem.

"I arrived, assessed the situation, and contacted the authorities. You now have temporary full-custody of your daughter while your former wife awaits trial."

"I--seriously? You better not be joking, hobgoblin!" Now he sat up, Spock assisting him with staying up, and looked back and forth between the other two. 

Joanna grinned. "It's true, dad. It's just you and me, now."

When he opened his arms she leapt into them, pushing him back into Spock. Leonard wasn't surprised that Spock avoided touching Joanna, but he was content with the fact that his lover didn't move away.

***

"Okay, squirt," Jim began, pulling out a PADD with a flourished wave, "I've taken the liberty of adding a few more necessities to this shopping list and good ol' Spock went through and (despite the fact he obviously has no idea what necessities truly are) arranged them all so we'll be able to work our way through the shops in order, without skipping through the list."

Joanna glanced over his arm at it, noting how much longer it seemed since her dad had handed it over, but didn't say anything. Uncle Jim would totally be the one dad yelled at, anyway.

"Cool. Where first?"

Grinning, Jim made a big deal of flicking his head back and forth between the list and the space station's promenade. "Let's see...first up: clothes! Followed by toys! After which we're making a little stop at the pharmacy for Uncle Jim, since your dad's been complaining about how I'm eating into certain supplies, and then souvenirs!"

They made their way through the shops with quite a bit of laughter. Joanna appreciated the chance to get out and cause a little mischief, something she didn't like to do around her dad because it made him look a little fragile around the edges. Uncle Jim made it ten times more fun because he basically acted her age, even when he was using his adorable "niece" to pick up hot chicks. They came back loaded down with bags and boxes, Jim ordering an ensign to help them get the things back to Joanna's room, and then stumbled down to the mess.

Leonard was already there waiting, Spock sitting across from him. When they looked up, Leonard's eyes lightened, face splitting into a grin, and Spock's lips quirked up just a bit. It was starting to feel like home.

***

After the attack, everyone became solemn around Joanna. She knew what it meant, but she didn't ever say that out loud. Instead, she spent every waking moment with her dad, or Uncle Jim and Uncle Scotty, or even Spock. Even though she hadn't been hurt, had been safe inside her room, which was in one of the safest parts of the ship, it was still too dangerous for a child to be on board. And it didn't matter how many times she argued that Pavel was only a few years older than her, because her dad wouldn't let her stay, no matter how much it hurt him to let her go.

They were running supplies to New Vulcan when her dad took her aside. "You know how close Spock and I are, right, Jo?" he asked, voice thick and awkward sounding. "Well, see, by Vulcan standards we're practically married. Which means his dad--his dad's like your step-granddad, yeah?"

She pursed her lips, but nodded. Even if they didn't get along all the time, and she once kicked him in the shins for being stupid, and he and dad being together meant just a little less time that she got to spend with her dad, Spock was an okay guy. For a green blooded, emotionally stunted hobgoblin.

"So, I talked this over with them, and we think it might be best if you go stay with Spock's dad, Sarek, for a bit."

"Dad."

"I know it's a bit of a culture shock, but we'll make sure he understands that human children need more to entertain them than some math problems, and we're always getting sent to do something-or-other on that dust ball, so we'll get to see each other even more than if you went back to Earth."

Joanna sighed. "Dad."

"And, well, Spock hasn't said anything about it, but Sarek...he lost his wife with his planet and he doesn't seem to do anything except "official business" nonsense. He's used to having a human around, even if he won't admit it. He'd probably be just a little less lonely with you there to bug him."

"Dad."

Her dad blinked, as if finally realizing she was talking, and looked at her sheepishly. "Yeah?"

"It's okay. If I went back to Earth I'd be stuck with some distant relative I don't know, anyway, or you'd shove me into some boarding school with a bunch of uptight kids with admirals and politicians as parents, right? And this, well, how many kids get to say they lived with a bunch of Vulcans?"

He smiled down at her, that proud damn-that's-my-girl-she's-so-smart smile that he always got around her and embarrassed her just the right amount. "Yeah. You'll be a shoe-in at the Academy for this. Fast tracked and given some posh embassy position right off."

They grinned at each other, because he knew she didn't really care about Starfleet and she knew he didn't really want her in it, anyway. 

***

"Can I call you grandpa?"

"If you so desire."

"Can I call you gramps?"

"If you so desire." 

"Can I call you--."

Joanna gave a little skip of triumph as Sarek stood, revealing that fifteen minutes of a human child skipping around his chair, asking inane questions, was his limit. He was a total light weight, Spock could last so much longer.

"Perhaps you would enjoy spending your copious amounts of free time in study. I could arrange for tutors in various traditional Vulcan arts."

She paused in her movement, as if taking the suggestion into full consideration, then beamed at him. "Naw, that would mean we wouldn't get to spend as much time around each other, pops."

Sarek's lips tightened, ever so slightly. "Indeed."

He began to stride off to his study and she followed, having to take two steps for every one he made. "I mean, you've been spending so much more time at work now than you did when I first arrived, it's like we don't get to see each other at all!"

Pausing, he regarded her in silence for a full minute. "My son did inform me of your delicate emotional state before your arrival. If you feel that I have been increasingly neglectful, I present you with the opportunity to rectify this situation. I shall inform the other council members that I will be unavailable tomorrow and we shall have the entire day to "see each other"."

Joanna grinned and gripped the arm of his robe, amused when he tensed up. "That sounds great, granpappy! I'll start making plans right now!"

She was pretty sure she just managed to make a full-blooded Vulcan show fear.

***

If there was one thing Uncle Jim believed in, it was looking pretty. The last time they went shopping together, he'd splurged (like any good uncle should) on all sorts of makeup and accessories for Joanna. She'd brought them with her to New Vulcan, organized inside a sparkly pink container with multiple layers and an old fashioned lock that required an oversized key.

She had pulled it out multiple times since, running her hands over the glass bottles and plastic cases, remembering why she or Uncle Jim chose each one. Tucked in the back was a little case holding her jewelry, all of it especially important--the ring dad had given her, the earrings Aunt Nyota had said came from her own mother, the bangles that Sulu said he had to buy because they reminded him of her. She pulled that out, too, and set it aside. When she was especially homesick, missing the Enterprise like she missed green grass between her toes and the sound of a stream outside her window, she'd put all of it on and watch herself in the mirror, feeling like everyone important to her was there with her.

But that wasn't necessary, now, because Sarek was coming and he was spending the whole day with her, even though she was pretty sure he hated her as much as a Vulcan could hate a child. It was fun and made Uncle Jim crack up, so she'd keep at it even if she was growing a little bored.

"May I enter?"

Joanna smirked now, when she knew he couldn't see it, then put her face into a mock-serene expression as she turned towards him. "Sure thing, granddaddy. Why don't you go sit on the bed over there? I figured I'd show you some traditional Earth rituals today."

***

Jim was trying really, really, really hard not to laugh. Because laughing right now would be laughing right into the face of one of the most prestigious Vulcans in the universe. Also, it might lead to his First strangling him against a console.

It was just too damn funny, though. Sarek had apparently given Joanna free reign yesterday and today, when they called to check in, he appeared on the viewscreen with pink fingernails (and were those the daisy decals Jim had given Joanna last month?!), overly thick blue eyeliner, chunks of ridiculously fake pink hair attached to his head, and what Jim was pretty sure were butterfly barrettes. He was so glad these things were automatically recorded.

"I wish to confirm the date of your arrival." The noise behind him was recognizable as Bones snickering into his hand. 

"Ah, we're going to be right on time, don't you worry." 

***

Leonard and Spock went to visit Joanna as soon as they were within beaming distance. When they stepped in the door, Leonard was greeted with an armful of gushing daughter, who he clung to, swung around, and then dragged off to the side to have a few private words.

It left Spock with Sarek. 

"I must extend my apologies to you, my son." 

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Father?"

"You were not, as I and many others have previously stated, a too human child."

Glancing over, Leonard caught green spreading along Spock's cheeks and grinned, pressing his lips against Joanna's forehead. He wondered what sort of revelations Sarek would receive once he realized he was going to be putting Joanna up even longer than they'd planned.


End file.
